Sunday, November 18, 2007

It is difficult not to look back at the past year with a range of mixed emotions. Success on the field, the highs of the summer late into August must be tinged with the sadness at the loss of a number of dear friends.

On the football front the Seniors excelled in winning three Leinster titles in a row and this achievement must be recognised as a marvellous accomplishment. In this extremely competitive era back to back provincial titles are difficult so adding the third is fantastic. Coupled with this success was the satisfaction of the quality of the entertaining football delivered by our Dubs and we must believe that in running the Kingdom so close can only stand to us next year. The County Board must be congratulated in moving so fast to keep the existing management team in place and it has to be great news to hear that all the players are committed to bringing home Sam. We’ll be all the way behind you.

The hurlers also stepped up their game and the prophets of doom who had engineered a league structure to see us be relegated to Division 2 were forced to look back and admire our efforts and then in such a hypocritical way change the format of the league again so that one of the perceived powers of hurling were kept at the top. The U21s got to an All-Ireland Final and although losing on the day have raised the bar and we must be genuine contenders for Leinster Senior Finals in the coming years.

Supporter Treatment in Croke ParkThe Club had a very successful meeting with Croke Park authorities regarding supporter treatment on match days and even though there is still room for improvement the club received fewer complaints this summer. We will keep this issue under consideration and will come back to the stadium manager if we feel we have further ideas to propose.

Player AwardsCongratulations to Alan Brogan (Football), Tomas Brady (Hurling), Sinead Aherne (Ladies Football), Ann McCluskey (Camogie), and Paddy Andrews (Minor) on winning the 2005 Player of the Year Awards. Special presentations were also made to Ann McCluskey to mark Dublin’s All-Ireland Camogie success, to Niamh McEvoy for another under age Ladies football title, while a merit award for outstanding service to Dublin was presented to Sean og O’Ceallachain in the name of our dear departed friend John O’Neill. We look forward in anticipation to next years ceremonies. Don’t forget to vote and return the enclosed form asap. Arrangements for next year’s awards are already in hand. I cannot stress enough how much the players appreciate and enjoy the night. On the basis of the last awards a great night is to be expected.

MembershipA membership renewal form is available online and one has issued to all members. The closing date for receipt of renewals is 31 December. Our strength is in your support, and I would encourage everyone to remain as members. Please support the Club, rejoin & encourage friends to also join.

Club WebsiteThe Club website www.thehill.ie is an invaluable resource for all information on Club activities and has a range of other material on gaelic games in the county. For example you will now find video footage of the last 5 minutes of St. Vincents SFC win. Please help us by contributing material. It is there as a resource to all those interested in Club affairs, so please get involved.

Our Departed FriendsIt is difficult to find words to properly express the sadness of us all to the families of our departed friends Joan Lyons and Tom Murphy. Joan was such a joy to be around. Positive and encouraging on match days and without the model of the ideal Dublin supporter. Tom Murphy was responsible for bringing many of the outgoing committee into the Club. He served many years as Treasurer and Chairman and at a difficult time for the Club was there when he was most needed. A true lover of hurling he was so proud of the minors and U21s this year. It will be so hard to be at games without them in 2008.

From the field of play we also lost Tom Mulligan and Mick Holden. The huge crowds that attended each funeral reflect the impact each had on our gaelic games community and each will be sorely missed. We must also remember John Egan, former chairman of the county board. A man with a passion for our games, particularly hurling, and one who made a huge contribution as chairman. We enjoyed his company at our player of the year awards & we will miss him at future functions.

In conclusion I would like to thank you all for your support during the past twelve months. I would also offer my appreciation to the, to the CRC who once again printed our membership cards in no time, to my father who takes bus bookings in my absence, to all those who made financial donations to the Club over the year, to the Regency Hotel for the use of their facilities for our meetings, everyone in Bus Eireann coaches, and to the players and management of all Dublin’s teams for their efforts over the past year. A special word of thanks to the County Board for their assistance on a number of issues over the past twelve months. The help provided was very valuable and very much appreciated by the Committee. Finally I would like to thank all the Committee for their assistance, the workload of the Club is large & you all played a major part in spreading this load.